Issue with Drip Maintainance....what is the optimal solution?

Given the importance of optimal natural resource utilization, I went with the approach of drip irrigation for my Banana Plantation. During my initial days I relied on my drip supplier to give me a suitable design. This was based on the assumption that he has more experiance in this feild.
My requirement was for the drip system provider to install a drip system which will:
- use my water tank (6 Lakh liters) as a source
- use pressure compesated drippers to account for terrien
- Account for 3 hrs available of electricity per day
- Calculate 24 lts per plant
- Provide an automated valve to control the delivery of water to different sections of the feild

It was my mistake to rely on the supplier. The flaws in my drip design:
- The designer did not account for drop in pressure due to continoues repair in the system
- The drip system works well for direct connection to borewell (this has reduced dirt)
- When connected to the water tank, alge develops eventualy and clogs the sand filter very frequently
- PC dripper as a concept is very good to supply even water and fertilizer accross the drip system, however - when the terrian in not even, the system fails.
- Due to frequent repairs in the pump, the efficiancy of the pump drops as well. This results in drop in operating pressure of the drip system as well
- The Solonoid valve requires constant pressure in the system,else it will result in 'hammer' effect
- When the pump is turned off, the difference in external pressure and drip system pressure causes the drippers to such the soil into the drippers resulting in clogging
- Laterals used from smaller companies were folding due to intense sunlight

Ultimatly due to the above factors, there was:
- Uneven supply of water and fertilizer in the feild
- No supply of water and fertilizer to several areas of the feild

Lessons:
- Optiml design of drip system is mandatoy.
- Try out the drip system for an acre of land before continuing
- Do not use cheap products as this will result in folding
- Level the land prior to installation of drip system, PC drippers do no work as promised
- Always connect the drip system directly to borewell
- Plan your planting based on water availability (in effect availabilty of electricity)

 

Execution schedule for Ultra High Density Mango Plantation

This section maintains the execution schedule for ultra high density mango plantation. The execution schedule is based on:

- Recommendations from standard literature available on UHDP

- My ability to source the required resources (Labor, Money, Time, Etc)

- My response to natural occurrences (Rain, Pests, Fungus, etc)

I shall periodically update this table to reflect work executed by date. The rationale of my actions shall be documented separately.

Table of Activities:

Date	Activity	Labor	Material	Total Cost
	Land Preparation
18th May 2013	Sourcing of Mango Saplings		Malika: 300*65 Alphanso: 300*65 Transport: 1000	40000
6th June 2013	Sourcing of Drip Lines		94590 * 0.3 Transport = 1500	30000
15th May 2013	JCB Trenching Work	700 Hrs * 70 * .5		24500
8th June 2013	FYM sourcing		2 Truck Loads @ 7000/Load * .5	7000
8th June 2013	Fertilizer Sourcing for Basal Application		NK = 500g * 600 @ 12/KG SSP = 250g * 600 @ 8/KG MOP = 100g * 600 @ 18/KG Phorate = 10g * 600 @ 80/KG	6900
10th  to 22nd June 2013	Earth Work (Basal Application + Planting)	6 ManDays * 12 days @ 175 / person (150F, 200M)		12600
Aug	Fertigation (13:0:45)		10KG @ 80/KG	800
Sept	Fertigation (13:0:45)		10KG @ 80/KG	800
Oct	Fertigation (13:0:45)		10KG @ 80/KG	800
Oct	Deweeding thinking end of rainy season	2 ManDays * 28 @ 150 / person (full time)		8400
Nov	Deweeding	2 ManDays * 14 @ 150 / person (full time)		4200
Nov	Fertigation (13:0:45)		10KG @ 80/KG	800
Dec	Pruning & Staking	2 ManDays * 24 @150 / person		7200
Dec	Solid Fertilizer		Urea = 50g * 600 @ 6/kg SSP = 100g * 600 @ 8/kg MOP = 50g * 600 @ 18/kg	1200
Jan 2014
Total				145200

My Experiment Farming - The Begining

About my experiment,

After spending years as a consultant in technology serving the financial services space, I decided to produce or create something. To quench this desire of mine, I explored the options of Innovation, Writing, Art, Farming and Manufacturing. The first 3 thoughts carter to creating...after exploring this option a little bit, I concluded that this is not my cup of tea. The last 2 attribute to producing...this seem to be simple! Hence, I decided to pursue this path.

Did not have the courage to quit my job to pursue my endeavor as I did not expect it to be remunerative for some time. Hence, took up my passion as a part time activity - ventured into manufacturing by tag teaming with my brother who was already in this business. My initial thoughts was to support his venture till I learnt a few tricks of the trade and scale up based on my findings. Any manufacturing activity in India is capital intensive and highly commoditized. This means the margins will be very low and one will be able to stay afloat only if he is able to manage his cash flows adequately. Added to this, the week enforcement of legal system and low integrity among vendors and customers provides for a very week payment mechanism with extremely long credit periods. Our venture failed - defaults was high, receivables were always long dated and suppliers would boil down our throats for money. We shut shop. More about individual experiences later.

On Jan 2011, I walked the perimeters of my farm - a barren land 65 Kms away from home with broken fences and zero infrastructure. I returned to this land on March 2011 - three months later with a dream and an action plan. This blog is about my experiences - the story of how a post graduate technocrat is meta morphing into a farmer.

Photo 1: A view of my farm showing dilapidated labor shed

Photo 2: Another view of untouched land

Photo 3: Now this is going to be my canvas for the next coming years